Michael Shibrowski hadn’t started in goal since Oct. 19, 2012, but he didn’t show any signs of rust Saturday night.

No. 1 Minnesota completed a sweep of Minnesota State Mankato with a 3-0 win at Mariucci Arena.

Shibrowski, a senior who has made only five appearances with Minnesota during his collegiate career, was unflappable in his first start in more than a year. He made 25 saves en route to his first career shutout.

“I guess I owe the guys for that. It was one of the better presents I got this year,” said Shibrowski, who celebrated his 23rd birthday a day earlier.

Shibrowski, an Andover native, went to Colorado College for a season before returning to the Twin Cities. He was in line to play significant minutes last season, but then-freshman Adam Wilcox stole a lot of the time in net.

That lack of playing time hasn’t discouraged Shibrowski.

“He hasn’t played much, (but) he works as hard as anyone on our team,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said.

Lucia said the team captains asked earlier in the week when Shibrowski was going to get his chance to start. That chance came Saturday.

Shibrowski said he found out Saturday morning that he was going to start, and he made the most of it.

“You can’t say enough about what Adam has done for us,” Shibrowski said of Wilcox. “I was just kind of waiting and seeing, and it worked out that I got to play tonight.”

Minnesota (8-1-1) jumped to an early lead when freshman defenseman Jake Bischoff handled a touch pass from freshman forward Hudson Fasching and tapped home a one-timer to make it 1-0.

The Gophers held that lead into the third period, when the Mavericks (4-6-0) turned up the pressure.

A few minutes later, Tom Serratore provided some insurance. He pilfered the puck near the left side of the crease and roofed a wrist shot to double the lead.

“That was a bit of a back breaker,” Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said.

Lucia said he challenged his third and fourth lines to generate more scoring chances. Serratore accepted the challenge.

“He’s a really good role player, and it’s nice to see a guy like that get rewarded with a goal,” Lucia said.

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